Wildlife service reopens prairie chicken discussion

Published 11:44 am, Friday, January 31, 2014

With a decision on whether or not to list the lesser prairie chicken as endangered due in March, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wants to ensure the public has the opportunity to comment.

To that end, the agency has reopened its public comment period and will accept comments on the final version of the Rangewide Conservation Plan through Feb. 12.

“We want the public to be able to access the final plan, which was completed in October,” said FWS Spokesperson Lesli Gray, who explained that the final version of the plan was supposed to have been posted online by Oct. 11. When it was discovered the plan had not been posted, the comment period was reopened, she said.

Officials continue to review already-submitted comments. “We’ve had a lot of interest,” she said.

Five oil and gas companies have already voluntarily enrolled 1.5 million acres under the plan to conserve the lesser prairie chicken’s habitat in Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas and Colorado, according to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. They are the first to enroll in the plan, which was developed by the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies and state wildlife agencies in Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas.

The five — Continental Resources, Devon Energy, Apache Corp., Occidental Oil and Gas Corp. and Samson Resources — pledged to develop the acreage to mitigate the impact on the habitat and to mitigate impacts that cannot be avoided.

“The oil and gas industry enthusiastically supports the WAFWA rangewide plan,” said Ben Shepperd, Permian Basin Petroleum Association president, in a statement. All five enrolling companies are members of the association, which also helped fund aerial surveys to verify chicken populations in 2012.

“We’re proud to see these member companies stepping up early on to support the rangewide plan in a significant way,” Shepperd said. “We believe this plan offers the best, most comprehensive approach available to conserve the lesser-prairie chicken and its habitat, while providing some assurance for participating companies so we can continue to do business.”